BENGALURU: A local court on Monday sentenced the seventh convict in a gang rape case to life imprisonment. The victim was a student of National Law School of India University.
Mutthuraj alias Raja (27) was the third accused in the chargesheet filed by Jnana Bharati police station. The sentence was pronounced by 55th ACMM court judge Rajeshwari N Hegde.
The incident took place on October 13, 2012, when Mutthuraj along with seven others, including a juvenile, raped the student in Jnana Bharathi campus. Mutthuraj, a native of Ramanagara, was caught almost a year after the incident.
In September 2013, a fast track court had convicted the other accused — Maddura (20), Doddaeeraiah (19), Shivanna (20), Eeraiah (20), Yelayaiah (23) and Rama (50). The juvenile was remanded to the State Boys’ Home for three years. They all belong to Iruliga tribe and are residents of Ramanagara.
The incident took place when the victim, a second year law student, was with her boyfriend in a car. The gang, who frequently came to the campus to steal sandalwood, saw the couple and attacked the man. They then raped the student. Sources said after the incident, the victim discontinued her education and returned to her hometown.
Public prosecutor S M Hiremani argued on behalf of the government while Balaraju, the then inspector of Jnana Bharathi police station and now a DySP in the anti-corruption bureau, had filed the chargesheet.
They were charged under Sections 376 (rape), 376(2)(g) (gang rape), 366 (kidnap), 397 (robbery or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt), 427 (mischief-causing damage), 323 (assault), 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 506(b) of the Indian Penal Code.
What led to Mutthuraj’s arrest
Mutthuraj was nabbed almost a year after the incident. The trial started in 2014 and 33 witnesses were examined. Among the crucial evidences was his sweater found at the crime scene. The mud from the sweater matched the sample taken from the crime spot.
Nabbed after a year
Just a week after the incident, Mutthuraj and another convict Rama had attacked a police personnel when a team tried to arrest them in a forest area in Jnana Bharathi campus. The police had shot at Rama and nabbed him, while Mutthuraj managed to flee. A week after the court convicted six accused, Mutthuraj, who was in hiding in Goa and Tamil Nadu, returned to Kebbedoddi village in Anekal taluk to visit his wife. This is when he was nabbed by the police.